Summary of Conservation Equations

This document summarizes the important conservation equations that are fre-
quently used in Fluid Mechanics. This is not a detailed account and for more detailed
discussions on the conservation equations, refer to the standard textbooks.

1 The Reynolds Transport Theorem

The most fundamental governing equation is perhaps the Reynolds Transport Theo-
rem (RTT), which applied to any conserved/unconserved quantity. The basic aim of
the RTT is to establish a link between the Eulerian and the Lagrangian approaches.
It shows how the rate of change of any quantity associated with a control system
(CS) or a particle(s) can be can be written in Eulerian frame, i.e., w.r.t. a CV. To
this end we shall consider a
control volume V (t) at time t
with the control surface S(t),
as shown in figure 1. The unit
normal to the Control Surface
is denoted as n̂. The parti-
cles located at time t inside the
CV makes up our control sys-
tem (CS). Therefore, at time t
CS and CV are comprised of ex-
actly the same particles. Af-
ter some time δt, some particles
move out of the CV, while some
new particles join in. Let us
assume that after time δt, the
CS has moved to a new posi- Figure 1: A schematic representation of a control volume and a unit
tion, where it occupies the vol- outward normal from its surface, also known as the Control surface.
The control volume has been shown at time t. The particles in the CV
ume V (t + δt), while the sur- at this time makes up the CS. At a later time the CS moves to a different
face of this new volume is de- configuration, occupying volume V (t + δt) with surface S(t + δt).
noted by S (t + δt). We shall
consider an extensive property (say, P) per unit mass, which we R will denote by,
say θ. Therefore, the total property P of the CS is: N (t) = V (t) ρθdV , where
ρ is the fluidR density. Similarly, the property P in the CS at time t + δt is,
N (t + δt) = V (t+δt) ρ(t + δt)θ(t + δt)dV . Therefore, the rate of change of prop-
erty P for the CS is simply,
Z 
N (t + δt) − N (t)
Z
dN 1
= lim = lim ρθ(t + δt)dV − ρθdV (1)
dt δt→0 δt δt→0 δt V (t+δt) V (t)

1
We can rearrange the above equations as follows:
"Z Z
dN 1
= lim ρθ(t + δt)dV − ρθ(t + δt)dV
dt δt→0 δt V (t+δt) V (t)
Z Z #
+ ρθ(t + δt)dV − ρθdV
V (t) V (t)
"Z Z #
1
= lim ρθ(t + δt)dV − ρθ(t + δt)dV
δt→0 δt V (t+δt) V (t)
| {z }
Term 1
"Z #
1
+ lim (ρθ(t + δt) − ρθ(t)) dV (2)
δt→0 δt V (t)
| {z }
Term 2

In eqn. (2), the Term 2 can be simplified as follows:

"Z # "Z #
1 ρθ(t + δt) − ρθ(t)
lim (ρθ(t + δt) − ρθ(t)) dV = lim dV
δt→0 δt V (t) V (t) δt→0 δt
Z
∂
= (ρθ) dV (3)
V (t) ∂t

On the other hand, Term 1 can be expressed as follows:

"Z Z #
1
lim ρθ(t + δt)dV − ρθ(t + δt)dV
δt→0 δt V (t+δt) V (t)
"Z #
1
= lim ρ(t + δt)θ(t + δt)dV (4)
δt→0 δt V (t+δt)−V (t)

The RHS of (4) is basically the integral over the differential control volume ∆V =
V (t + δt) − V (t), which indicates the net change in the volume of the CS. Now, we
note that this change of volume can only occur since the CS is in motion relative to
the CV. Therefore ∆V must be related to the relative velocity of the fluid particles,
which we must find. To that end, consider the motion of the small grey patch of area
dA on the control surface S(t), as shown in figure 1. This small patch’s contribution
to the total volume change ∆V of CS is: d(∆V ) = (v·n̂)dAδt, where v is the velocity
of the fluid (or, the CS particles, whichever is relevant) relative to the CV. This is
precisely the volume of the grey colored part shown in fig. 1. As such, the integral
in eqn. (4) can be converted to a surface integral using the foresaid expression for

2
d∆V , as follows:
"Z #
1
lim ρ(t + δt)θ(t + δt)dV
δt→0 δt V (t+δt)−V (t)
Z
1
= lim ρ(t + δt)θ(t + δt)v · n̂dAδt
δt→0 δt ∆V
Z Z
= ρ(t)θ(t)v · n̂dA = ∇ · (ρθv) dV (5)
S(t) V (t)

In the last line of eqn. (5), we have implemented the limit and also applied the
Gauss’ Divergence Theorem. We can now combine eqns. (3) and (5) to complete
(2). As such, the rate of change of the property P can now be written in an Eulerian
Frame as follows: Z  
dN ∂
= (ρθ) + ∇ · (ρθv) dV (6)
dt V (t) ∂t
Equation (6) is known as the Reynolds Transport Theorem, which relates the rate
of change of a Control System to that of a Control Volume. Here, θ can be any
extensive property, including a vector, scalar as well as tensors.

2 Conservation of Mass
Conservation of mass can be derived from the RTT by setting θ = 1 (mass per
unit mass is 1). Also, for a CS, rate of change of Mass is 0, i.e., dN/dt = 0, when
N = M = the total mass of the system. Therefore, (6) yields:
Z  
∂ρ
0= + ∇ · (ρv) dV (7)
V (t) ∂t

Since (7) is valid for any shape and size of the CV at any time, it follows that the
integrand must be zero. Therefore, conservation of mass is expressed as:
∂ρ
+ ∇ · (ρv) = 0 (8)
∂t
Alternatively, eqn. (8) can be written as:
Dρ
+ ρ∇ · v = 0 (9)
Dt
We can now define a flow to be incompressible where Dρ/Dt = 0. i.e., the density
of each individual fluid particle remains constant with time, as they move in the
fluid. This yields:
∇ · v = 0 , for incompressible flows (10)
Note that uniform (constant) density is just a special case of Dρ/Dt = 0.